While I spent much of the year navigating the pandemic, I still got to experience so many things. Every year is filled with love and loss and great memories. Here’s a slice of what my 2021 looked like.
Kicked off 2021 with … cold brew coffee
This was the first cold brew coffee of 2021. The first of many!
This was my first time walking on Presque Isle Bay from the Presque Isle side! I watched people ice fishing, playing hockey and doing other ice-related activities.
In the 101-year history of Kennywood Park’s Jack Rabbit, it had never operated in December. I got to ride it on Dec. 24! I also ate Potato Patch fries on Christmas Eve. Yinzplosion!
One week shy of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, I visited the Flight 93 National Memorial for the first time.
Located along Route 30 (the Lincoln Highway), this “common field” became a “field of honor” on Sept. 11.
United Airlines Flight 93 left the Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 8:42 a.m. en route to the San Francisco International Airport. The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 8 a.m. It pushed back away from the gate at 8:01 a.m., but, due to the amount of flight traffic, had been delayed in departure.
Forty-six minutes after takeoff — just over the Ohio line from Pennsylvania — hijackers stormed the cockpit, eventually taking control.
Passengers and crew had learned, through phone calls, what had already transpired in New York City and Washington, D.C.
After flying over the Pittsburgh region, passengers and crew attempt to take over the flight at 9:57 a.m.
Just moments later — at 10:03 a.m. — Flight 93 crashed into a Stoneycreek Township, Somerset County, field.
Though the exact destination is unknown, experts and published reports suggest the hijackers were ultimately aiming for the Capitol. The crash site is just 18 minutes in air from Washington, D.C.
The actions of the Flight 93 passengers and crew are at the heart of everything within the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Upon entering the site, visitors come upon the Tower of Voices, soaring 93 feet into the air. This unique monument holds 40 wind chimes, representing each of the passengers and crew onboard Flight 93.
“The Tower of Voices provides a living memorial in sound to remember the forty through their ongoing voices,” the National Park Service says of the tower on its website.
After viewing the tower, visitors can get back into their vehicle and take a roughly 3.5-mile drive to the visitor’s center.
Inside, visitors can gain a better understanding of the day’s events, timeline of the flight and other related pieces of history through a permanent exhibition featuring audio and visual artifacts.
I offer a warning that the exhibit can trigger memories of that morning and might be difficult for some visitors.
The National Park Service recommends budgeting at least 45 minutes to view the exhibit. It’s important to note that no photography is permitted inside the exhibit, according to signs posted in early September 2021.
And, as of September 2021, for health and safety measures, face masksare required inside the visitor’s center.
In addition, a bookstore offers books and other items relating to the site.
Outside of the visitor’s center, visitors can see an overview of the crash site, Memorial Plaza, Wall of Names and the boulder denoting the impact site.
After stopping there, visitors have a choice between walking a path or driving to Memorial Plaza.
Two trails — the 1.2-mile Allée Trail and the 0.7-mile Western Overlook Trail — allow visitors to walk to Memorial Plaza. The Western Overlook Trail follows the path the plane took.
At Memorial Plaza, visitors can walk to Wall of Names, which lists the names of passengers and crew members.
On the walk to the plaza with the Wall of Names, visitors will see the large boulder.
While the impact and legacy of Flight 93 is the focal point of this national site, other work continues to reforest what once was a coal mine.
After visiting the national memorial, I recommend a short drive to an unsuspecting Sept. 11, 2001, memorial.
Just about 9 miles from the entrance to the national memorial site is the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel & United Airlines Crew Monument.
This little white church sits just outside of the small, rural town of Shanksville, which became the epicenter of emergency response crews, journalists and others in the days and weeks following Sept. 11.
The church is located at a quiet intersection, near a cemetery and surrounded by corn fields. If you’re driving too fast and not paying attention to your GPS device, you’ll miss it. Look for the large bell tower.
There is little information online about this memorial site but a friend who had been working on 20th anniversary special coverage for a Western Pennsylvania newspaper suggested I visit.
On my visit, a family of three was making their way through the tiny chapel-turned-museum.
Chapel volunteer Connie Hay so graciously took her time to explain items inside the chapel, providing details about how the items arrived and a brief story behind them. She showed me a small room off of the main space that provides a photo and short biography of each passenger and crew member, and allows people to light a candle in their memory.
One of the items on display includes what became the first memorial of Flight 93.
Outside of the chapel is a monument dedicated to the Flight 93 crew members. The plaza is flanked by flags from each state. Off to the side is a piece of steel from the World Trade Center — etched in the shape of “UA 93.”
Connie told me the site sees an increase in visitors as Sept. 11 nears each year, including visits from United crew members. On the Saturday before the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Connie told me they anticipated a bigger increase.
The site is a short drive that is certainly worth the trip. If you’ve got time, take a gander around the tiny town of Shanksville and head to the elementary school to see an outdoor statue given to the school after the attacks.
As I meandered the lavish Bedford Springs resort grounds on a recent early September visit, I couldn’t help but think of the history that (pardon the pun) just keeps flowing through the place.
The property — which dates to 1796, when Dr. John Anderson purchased 2,200 acres for a mineral springs resort after learning about the springs from nearby indigenous people — has played host to the likes of politicians (Aaron Burr, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun); business magnates (Henry Ford and department store innovator John Wanamaker); actors and those seeking the reputed medicinal benefits of the natural springs.
Pittsburgh socialites such as the Fricks, Mellons and Heinzes also made use of Bedford Springs.
Hotel historical records suggest as many as 13 future, current and past presidents visited Bedford Springs over the last 225 years — from Thomas Jefferson in 1819 to George W. Bush in 2012.
In an effort to escape the brutal summer heat of the nation’s capital, the Supreme Court, in 1856, informally convened at Bedford Springs. While there, the court worked on the Dred Scott Decision, which gave more support to the anti-slavery movement and, ultimately, paved the way for the Civil War.
The Navy, during World War II, used the hotel and grounds as a training school and — later — as a holding facility for Japanese diplomats.
But it is James Buchanan who might be the resort’s most well-known frequent guest. As president, Buchanan used Bedford Springs as the summer White House between 1857 and 1861. His first visit was made in 1821.
In 1858, Bedford Springs made history as Buchanan, serving as president at the time, received the first transatlantic telegraph on Aug. 12, 1858. The telegram was sent from Queen Victoria to Bedford Springs.
Anderson’s family, in 1887, sold Bedford Springs to a group led by Pittsburgh attorney Philander Knox, who would eventually become secretary of state, serving from 1901 to 1904.
That group sold it again in 1896 to Delaware industrialist Samuel Bancroft.
In 1895, one of the nation’s first golf courses was laid out. Ten years later, in 1905, Bedford Springs became the site of one of the nation’s first indoor swimming pools.
But just two years later, in 1986, the property closed.
It sat vacant until 1998, when it was purchased for $8 million by a group of 10 investors under the Bedford Resort Partners Limited name.
Over the course of a $120 million effort to reopen the property, an eighth spring was discovered (Eternal Spring) in 2006. The property reopened to overnight guests in July 2007 and was purchased by the Omni Hotels chain in 2009.
Among the amenities the resort offers is a 30,000-square-foot spa — Springs Eternal Spa — that pays homage to the springs.
Guests can spend hours looking at all of the artifacts, photos and decor around the lobby, nearby rooms and hallways — including a desk Buchanan used, guest logs and images from when the Navy used the property. Behind the front desk is a 39-star United States flag.
Rocking chairs, lounge chairs, sitting chairs and benches scattered throughout the resort let guests lose track of time watching hotel life go by, watching wildlife, reading a book or taking a nap.
Of the five buildings of guest rooms, my particular room was in the Springs Eternal House. The charming room offered antique furniture and vintage decor. The granite vanity and marble floor in the bathroom provided such an exquisite feeling.
Being accustomed to slim, trendy and functional furniture in other hotels, this was a nice change. The surroundings didn’t feel too fancy (think: Grandma’s house where you can’t touch anything) or too old (think: Old motel). And, it should be noted, that with so much to do at the resort, the rooms quite literally are for resting. I wasn’t in my room except for late evening, through the night and early morning.
Clarification (9/21/22): Information regarding the design of the golf course was clarified to say that the golf course’s work spans the work of Spencer Oldham, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross. The post previously made it sound as if the three worked together.
BobbyCherry.com 